Display for a mac mini?

I'm looking to buy a mac mini when I get back to the states (spending some time in Japan) sometime this summer, so I've been researching displays. I love the apple displays but even with the educational discount, $699 for a 20" display is just too hard to swallow. So, what would be the closest substitute?

I'd preferably like something high quality, widescreen, and hell if possible a silver cabinet. I've been scouring newegg, and my *dream* would be for samsung to make this monitor. They make something like it, only it's a 24" and costs upwards of $1300! They do make 19" and 20" monitors, but those aren't widescreen... ugh. The other ones I've seen are just ugly, often incorporating useless speakers or large/excess buttons. Any suggestions?

The Dell 2005FPW uses the same screen as the Apple, has many more inputs, and it much cheaper (especially when it goes on sale they are in the $350-400 range). The only drawback is that it is plastic. This monitor has been talked about a lot on these forums so I'm not going to go into more detail. Search this site for the Dell 2005FPW.

I'd preferably like something high quality, widescreen, and hell if possible a silver cabinet. I've been scouring newegg, and my *dream* would be for samsung to make this monitor. They make something like it, only it's a 24" and costs upwards of $1300! They do make 19" and 20" monitors, but those aren't widescreen... ugh. The other ones I've seen are just ugly, often incorporating useless speakers or large/excess buttons. Any suggestions?

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Yeah, the 244t is exactly what a lot of people are waiting for Dell to release. An HDCP display with plenty of other video inputs. Samsung also makes the 940MW. It's a 19" widescreen but, lower res. 1440x900 (same as the 17" iMac). It is HDCP compliant so it will work digitally with a PS3 or any other next gen DVD player. Inputs? How's DVI-D(HDCP compliant), VGA, Scart, Component, S-Video, & composite for ya? It is also a multi system tv with an SDTV tuner and speekers built in. It accepts all 3 international video standards NTSC, PAL, & SECAM. Other features include picture-in-picture, picture-by-picture (split screen), 8ms response time, 700:1 contrast ratio, 300 cd/m² brightness. And it's silver (in front, the back is black).
The only down side is it's 16:10 with no letterboxing option for 16:9 content through the video inputs. The 244t has the same problem. That won't matter if you watch movies on your DVD-ROM drive. Your computer will preseve the original aspect ratio and scale the video. Most movies are shot in a much wider aspect ratio than the stubby 16:9 format and the difference is so slight odds are you won't even notice the squeeze.
You want something a little bigger with higher resolution? The Gateway FPD2185W is 21" with a 1680 x 1050 resolution (same as Apple's 20" displays). It's another HDCP compliant display featuring DVI-D(HDCP compliant), VGA, component, S-Video, composite, & a USB hub. It also swivels from landscape to portrait mode.
The downside? No audio input or output, no TV tuner, lots of people have complained about a humming noise coming from the USB ports. It also has a picture-in-picture feature, but no split screen mode. Oh, and it's only available in black.
And last but not least... I just saw the most elegant widescreen monitor (not made by Apple) I have ever seen yesterday. The Xerox XR6-19DW is 19" with a 1440x900 resolution. It has no video inputs or TV functionality, but it just looks so gorgeous. It's all black with a blue LED. The bezel is truely thin and seemless. The stand is small and doesn't take up all the space that every other monitor does. The design is just so clean and pure.
I didn't think to look around the back at the connectors. The website says 2 analog & 1 DVI. I wonder if this means 2 VGA ports or that the DVI port is DVI-I.

Pricing:
Samsung 940MW- $499 street price, but you can get it for $449.
Gateway FPD2185W- $599 street price. The price appears to be the same everywhere.
Xerox XR6-19DW- $349 street price, but can be found for $279

If you want to see them in person BestBuy carries both the 940MW and FPD2185W. I saw the XR6-19DW at MicroCenter.
Here are some pics of the 940MW:

check out the new dell 2007fpw or whatever the model # is. Same display as the apple one, priced much better, has more inputs and a far superior value for your dollar vs the apple ACD. As long as you dont mind a dell sign staring at you all day, you'll be fine with the dell. As mentioned above you can get the dell for under $400 as well. They also just announced a 2407fpw 24" widescreen.

Thanks for the responses everybody! About the Dell screens... I know they look good on the cheap, but they're so ugly (><) I'd hate to have my beautiful new mac attatched to something so blatantly pc too. It's not that I'm a blind windows hater, I've been building pc's for my family and friends for years now. Just fed up with Windows and the whole stigma of the OS... wanting to break clean.

Great review of the ACD display, miniconvert! It's certainly making me reconsider going to Apple for the display... quick question though - I certainly don't have the cash for the HD 23" inch display, but aren't all LCD's really high def? I mean, Would anything stop me from playing true quality 720p on a 20" ACD with my mini?

Finally, Discommunication, *wow* man! Thank you so much for the input, you really did you homework! I saw that widescreen samsung too, but to be honest I was kind of thrown by the design of the thing. The gateway also struck me as... not something I'd want next to a mac. But wow, the Xerox! That thing is incredible looking! Do you know if it is (or will be) available in silver? I'd buy that thing in a heartbeart!

To be honest, the iMac fits my needs perfectly - bigger hard drive for all the video files I typically have clogging up my disk space, better video card (by far) for watching HD video/photoshop/the occasional game, faster processor cores, and built-in iSight which I don't own yet. But I won't buy one.

Yes, even though it's "BYODKM," I'll still probably buy everything for it new. Apple keyboard, iSight, (and at this point, probably a) Apple Cinema display... everything except for the logitech mouse that I use now. It'll run me just under $2,000 for this setup with educational discount, the same price as a fully loaded 20" iMac really. It's kind of rediculous when you think about it, but I hate that apple gives us no mid-range headless mac option. If I bought an imac and it became outdated... I'd have to trash that gorgeous display along with the rest of the computer. It just seems like such a waste to me The only other option would be a power mac, and I simply cannot spend $3,000 on a computer.

Sorry I know that turned into a rant, but it's a bone I've had to pick with Apple for a while... I'd be the happiest guy in the world if they brought back the Cube in April - complete with 3.5" drive and decent video card. Basically, iMac in a box.

Great review of the ACD display, miniconvert! It's certainly making me reconsider going to Apple for the display... quick question though - I certainly don't have the cash for the HD 23" inch display, but aren't all LCD's really high def? I mean, Would anything stop me from playing true quality 720p on a 20" ACD with my mini?

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I can only assume that it'd be totally fine. I think Apple just marks the others HD as they support the 1080p also. Lets face it, realistically 720p is going to play much better on a mini than 1080p anyway. I'm really glad you found the little review helpful - I was so blown away by the quality and presence of the ACD when I sat it next to my Dell's that I wanted to share my experience.

I want an iSight, but that's one thing I am having a problem justifying the cost of! I didn't realise the resolution was still so low... the Logitech on this PC is in the megapixels. Still, I'll cave eventually of course, the iSight just looks the part.

Something I've been kind of curious about - since I plan on buying a big display anyways, could I also use it as an HD TV? For example, if I bought a ACD, could I hook up a Xbox 360 or Nintendo Revolution to it?

Hey kallaway1 how do any of these stike you? A 245T already? The 244T just came out. And check out the 215TW. The nice thing about Samsung is they almost always offer you the option of silver or black.
Oh, and Sony is adding a 20" model, the MFM-HT205, to it's HT line of monitors in April. Same exact design as the 17", but with a 1680x1050 resolution and split screen mode for video (finally). HDCP and X-brite are a plus. The price of $900 however... I'm sure it will come down to around $700 once it hit the shelves.

I know you said you didn't really want a Dell... BUT. Dealmac.com is saying that the 2005FPW is only $405 shipped now, and that's a dang good deal. The 24" one is $759. Go to dealmac.com for more info.

Oh my gosh.... I *WANT* that 215TW!! When do pricing details get released? And when does this thing come out?! It has everything I want!

Sleek silver styling - check (I think? can anybody confirm?)

Good brand name - check (samsung)

s-video, component and composite video inputs so I can get the monitor to double as an hd-tv and play a 360 or ps3 when I buy one?! Yes! Run-on-sentence Check!!!

Now all I need is for the price to be around or under 600 dollars and they have my business.

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Hopefully it is HDCP compliant. It should be since the 244t is, but Samsung does a horrible job advertising this feature. You have to dig through PDF manuals to find the smallest little line about HDCP. The price will hopefully be competitive with the Gateway 21". Even if it's not if you give it a month or 2 after it hits the shelves the price usually falls as much as $100 below the sugested retail price.
I'm glad I've been playing the waiting game. There are a lot more options now and hopefully more by the summer. I wonder what's taking Dell so long with the updates. This will be my first DVI display and probably last before the pc industry transitions to HDMI and then UDI in 3 years.

i know the big arguement agenst non apple screens is there look, but i asked some guys that make car stuff and the showed me aluminum CRT Screens and LCDs thay had converted and they look just as pritty as the apple one you can get them to make any screen look like a ACD and it was only working out a couple thousand baht, about $50 to you guys. they cast the aluminum, all you have to do is move your pannel over.

Over at outpost.com, it's the only place I was able to find that is carrying the 215TW. They say it's in stock and ready to ship, but has the monitor even been released yet? If it was I would expect to see it on newegg as well, but it's not... can anybody explain?

Anyways, outpost lists the price as 549.99, and here's what it has listed as the connectors:

It's available at JR.com and Amazon which is just distributing for JR. Their price is $529. It just became available on Monday. I would wait a few weeks for them to sort out the inventory. Then you might actaully see the silver and black options.
Some key features I didn't notice before... It has speakers built in. It can get low and I mean low. The display can be lowered to only an inch of the desk surface. I think that is why Samsung is replacing the 244t with the 245t. The 244t can't be lowered.
You can get pictures of the silver model at Samsung's German site, but dial-up users be warned these pictures are huge 3432x4111. You can see every little detail. It says DVI(HDCP) right below the DVI port. This is the monitor I've been waiting 2 years for. I'm getting the black 1 to eventually act as a second display for a new iMac. It would match the color scheme perfectly with both my black & white PSTwos.

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